Page updated 05/23/2004
It was sometime in January that General J. H. Winder dropped dead upon the platform of the Florence depot.
This Winder had full charge and control of all prisoners of war. The lack of provisions, shelter, medicines, and all was believed to be the direct result of orders from him. There is no evidence that he acted under the orders or advice, or even sought the advice, of any authority higher than his own, nor was he ever made to answer for his treatment of prisoners of war till he was suddenly called to judgment. The hundreds of complaints of Winder's inhumanity that were made on all sides to the Confederate authorities at Richmond were simply referred to Winder without comment or advice from them. Wirz and Barrett were his willing tools, and even added to Winder's cruel orders a little cruelty of their own invention; but the fact remains that to Winder be-longs the disgrace of Belle Isle, Andersonville, Florence, and Salisbury, with all their horrors.
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Page updated
05/23/2004